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Monday, October 25, 2010

We're happy to have Peter Kazmaier with us today talking about his book, The Halcyon Disclocation. To learn more about Peter and his book, read on!

1) How did this story come to you?
I have loved stories that involve catastrophes and learning to survive in a wild and dangerous place such as Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island and Robert Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky. My goal was to write a scientifically plausible, plot-driven novel about a university that gets displaced to a new world. I particularly wanted to explore how Christians would react if they were part of this survival challenge while cut off from all of their faith connections.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I belong to a book club and one day mused about how I had always wanted to write a novel. One of our members, a journalist, challenged me to do more than just talk about it. When the book came out four years later (I had a demanding research job in chemistry) I was so gratified, as a first time fiction writer, to be chosen runner-up in the Futuristic Fiction Category in the Canadian Christian Writing Awards offered by The Word Guild. Having written many technical articles, making the style change to fiction was a significant learning experience.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I suppose (a) that I would attempt to write fiction at all would surprise my colleagues who are used to reading my scientific papers; (b) readers would be surprised to learn that I enjoy studying the American Civil War and generally travel to battlefields every spring to study the history; and (c) perhaps some might be surprised that I wasn’t born in North America and that English is not my first language.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Currently I am working on the sequel to The Halcyon Dislocation. Many readers have asked me “So what happens next to these people stranded in this terrifying new world? Do they ever get back?” The sequel will answer those questions.

5) Parting comments?
As a new author, I owe a great many thanks to the members of The Word Guild, a Canadian Christian writers group who so encouraged me, to the many who took the time to peruse early drafts of my book and offered their constructive criticism, and of course to my readers. Having avid Science Fiction readers critique early manuscripts of The Halcyon Dislocation was of inestimable value. I could measurably see the improvement in the story as a result of their observations.

17 comments:

I would agree that I wouldn't expect a scientist to write a novel, at least based on the work they do. Yet you have a creative side because of your work, always seeking answers to issues at hand. Your name sounds Russian, or a smaller country formed from Russia--you have me curious as to where you were born. Please enter me. Have a sister-in-law who isn't a Christian that I would love to share this with.

I am a long-time science fiction fan and would love to win and read this book. It sounds very interesting. Perhaps having Christians cut off from their faith connections is like send our children to secular universities.Kaye Whitneykayewhitney@bellsouth.net

Thank you for commenting. Yes the American Civil War is a fascinating study. It is filled with great tragedy and yet there is also often great nobility amid the carnage. Although I enjoy studying the Civil War, I don't believe I know enough about it to try a novel in that time period.I say that much to my regret.

Thank you for commenting. When I wrote THE HALCYON DISLOCATION, I wanted to avoid preaching at my audience, so when religious or philosophical questions are raised in the novel, I had those questions debated by the characters. I also had friends who aren't Christ Followers read the early drafts of the book and their feedback was quite positive. I cannot say for sure but I think it may be the kind of book that one might give to an inquisitive friend with positive effect.

Carmen you also asked about my ethnic origin. Your guesses were quite close - my name is of Germanic origin and comes from the German for "Cheese Maker" so you can detect my plebeian pedigree. In Monty Python's blasphemous THE LIFE OF BRIAN, there is a scene from the Sermon on the Mount where the Lord's words "blessed are the peace makers" are transmogrified into "blessed are the cheese makers" as the words are passed by word of mouth to the edge of the large crowd. Thus "Blessed are the cheese makers" always had special spiritual significance for me :-).

Peter -I am intriqued by your new novel. I coordinate a very active and somewhat large book club (avg 28+ in attendance). It is my goal to introduce our readers to a different author each month, especially "new" authors. I also rotate the genre for them although we only read Christian fiction. We've not read much Sci-fi, and I think this would be a very interesting read. I look forward to reading your book.Thank so much for the interview and sharing about yourself.